Uprooted Palestinians are at the heart of the conflict in the M.E Palestinians uprooted by force of arms. Yet faced immense difficulties have survived, kept alive their history and culture, passed keys of family homes in occupied Palestine from one generation to the next.

(all societies include some bigots and racists but only in Israel do they get state funding and official support and laws to advance racism)
Safed Rabbis urge Jews to refrain from renting apartments to Arabs

To understand some of the background, I recommend these books: Jesus in the Talmud by Peter Schafer, Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years by Israel Shahak, The Invention of the Jewish People by Shlomo Sand. Ofcourse one could have criticim of other religions (e.g. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism) especiallty when they are used to justify wars and conquests instead of being about personal relationship between humans and their God (crusades foe example). That is why I am convinced that any society that aspires to be modern and avoid conflict should start by insisting on separating state from religion.

Our Man in Palestine:
"This cooperation (between Israeli and Palestinian security forces) has reached unprecedented levels under the quiet direction of a three-star US Army General, Keith Dayton, who has been commanding a little-publicized American mission to build up Palestinian security forces in the West Bank."http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/oct/14/our-man-palestine

Al Nakba, documentary (200 min) -produced by Al Jazeera- was first broadcasted in Arabic on the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian catastrophe. It was translated into English in 2009 and then into four different languages: French, German, Spanish and Italian. Al Nakba won the prize for the best long documentary about Palestine in Al Jazeera Fifth International Film Festival (Doha/Qatar) and the audience award in Amal Ninth Euro-Arab Film Festival (Santiago/Spain). It participated in other film festivals in Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Jordan, Egypt and Palestine.http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=30A8F80C4E383847

23/10/2010 Another condemnation of the Israeli flagrant violations of the Lebanese Telecommunications sector was issued on Friday…

Indeed, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) conference in Mexico condemned the Israeli enemy’s violation of Lebanon's telecommunications sector, saying that the sector has and is still being subject to Israeli interference.

The conference’s final statement said that Lebanon's "mobile phone and land lines are being subject to Israeli piracy, interference, and obstruction."

It stressed Lebanon's "complete right" to be compensated for the harms that have been inflicted on the telecommunications network.

The condemnation came after extensive efforts by Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas to convince the 124 participants to condemn Israel and the outcome was 43 voting in favor, 23 against, and 57 abstentions.

Speaking to Lebanese daily As-Safir, Nahhas praised the efforts of the Lebanese delegation, which faced something similar to a diplomatic war in its complaint and conviction against Israel, adding that the delegation's decision has the same impact as that of the UN on the telecommunication level.

Meanwhile, the head of the Information and Telecoms parliamentary committee in Lebanon MP Hasan Fadlallah told As-Safir that the condemnation is a "major Lebanese accomplishment and the document is damning evidence that proves the extent of Israel's assault on the telecommunications sector."

Fadlallah said that the Israeli telecommunication violations included espionage and technical control, which will need intense supervision and follow up by the government, in order to take advantage of this ITU stance, especially in the context of accusing Israel of its aggression. He also stressed that the government should work thoroughly in protecting the telecommunication sector, under the frame of protecting Lebanon in confrontation with the enemy.

As-Safir reported that Hezbollah will soon hold a press conference during which it will present "very important" facts in the matter and confirm that Israel totally controls the telecommunications sector.

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- MP Dr. Mahmoud Al-Ramahi, the secretary of the Palestinian legislative council, has charged that the edict by Jewish rabbi Yitzhak Shapira allowing use of Palestinian civilians as human shields in war and military operations reflected the extent of that rabbi's racism, savagery, and malice against Palestinians.

Ramahi said in a press statement on Friday that the edict also reflects the great extent of Zionists' extremism that is rampant in their religious institutions.

He said that the edict was expected in light of the Israeli violations of human rights and attacks on civilians during the Gaza war other than the settlers' assaults on mosques and places of worship in the West Bank including calls for demolishing a number of them.

The Hamas MP denounced such edicts and called on the world community to protect the Palestinian people in face of the catastrophic consequences that might result from those fanatic edicts that reflect "blind hatred".

[ 21/10/2010 - 06:18 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- A Jewish rabbi has allowed the use of unarmed Palestinian civilians as human shields even if they were killed in the process.

Yitzhak Shapira, a director of a Jewish school in the occupied West Bank, told Haaretz daily published on Thursday that anything could be used in order to save the lives of Jews according to the Tora teaching.

He said that the life of a Jew is much more precious than that of anyone else whether he is a soldier or not.

No Israeli should endanger his life for the sake of a non-Jew even if he/she was a civilian, Shapira said.

RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Hamas MP Hassan Yousef, who is detained in Israeli occupation jails, has denied meeting with the German envoy mediating the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in prison.

Yousef in a statement published on Friday said that the report by London-based Al-Hayat newspaper in this regard was completely baseless.

He charged that the report was a "Zionist fabrication" aimed at spreading confusion over the prisoners' exchange deal.

The lawmaker asked the press and media to scrutinize their reports and ascertain their credibility before publishing such sensitive issues, affirming that prisoners do not have any role in this deal.

Yousef, who was elected to the Palestinian legislative council in 2006 while in custody, has been held in Israeli jails since 2005 and is serving a six and a half years sentence for affiliation with Hamas movement.

Report: Shalit Mediator Met with Senior Detained Hamas Official

22/10/2010 The Arabic language newspaper Al-Hayat reported yesterday that the German mediator in the Shalit deal, Gerhard Conrad, met last month in an Israeli prison with one of the leaders of Hamas in the West Bank, Sheikh Hassan Yousuf.

A senior Hamas figure, who asked to remain anonymous, told the newspaper about the meeting, explaining that the imprisoned leadership of the organization has the same amount of influence as the group's leadership domestically and abroad.

"Everyone is united over the stance of the movement on the deal," he said.

The senior Hamas figure said that Israel had vetoed the possibility of even discussing the release from prison or the expulsion of 15 senior imprisoned Hamas members whose names were on the list of 450 prisoners Hamas demanded released in return for captured Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit.

The Hamas leader said that the governments of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Olmert are the ones who reneged from their original positions and are preventing the deal from going through.

"Each time there is progress, the Israeli side pulls back. Initially the Israelis vetoed the release of 149 prisoners and then they went down to 50, and in the last round they insisted on not releasing 15 people who they say have 'blood on their hands,'" the Hamas man said.

According to the Hamas figure, Ahmed Jabari, a senior military commander, opposed the deal without those 15 leading prisoners.

The 15 are senior members of the military arm of the organization. Among them are Abdullah Barghouti and Abbas al-Sayad.

Marwan Barghouti, although not a Hamas man, is also one of the 15, and the Saudi newspaper Al-Madina reported Wednesday that Israel would be willing to release him. There has been no Israeli confirmation of this claim.

Saudi sectarian mafia calls the Resistance a “Shia” menace in order to keep the Muslim Ummah divided for the benefit of anti-Islam imperialist western powers and Israel.

Contrary to that if one study the history of Israel from some objective source – he will be surprised to find out that Israel is the least ‘Semite (Jewish)’ state than any neighboring Muslim Arab states.

Israel has been using the so-called “Christian persecution” within Muslim countries to divert Christian West’s attention from Jewish pathetic treatment of Christian minority in the Occupied Palestine – which is no better than the persecution of Muslims in Israel.

In August 2010, when Al-Minar TV started broadcasting Iranian movie “The Christ (Al-Sayyid al-Masih)’ – the Israeli propaganda outlets such as ‘The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center’ called the movie “anti-Semite” and “anti-Christian”.

In fact the movie portrayed Jesus (Isa) as Allah’s great prophet and his mother as “Virgin Mary”, but claimed as per Holy Qur’an that Jesus was not ‘Son of God’. The portrayal of Jesus is far better than what the Jewish holiest book Talmud says about Jesus and his mother Mary : “Jesus’ mother was a whore and had sex with many men – Sanhedrin 106a and Shabbath 104b (sic)”

Earlier in November 2003 – a similar Israeli propaganda lies were circulated against Syrian produced TV series “Al-Shatat (Exodus)” aired by Al-Minar – which mentioned the old Christian claim of “Blood Libel” against the Jews in Europe – claiming that Jews abducted Christian children and used their blood for Jewish religious rituals. The Christian allegations against Jews were proven recently by Israel historian Professor Ariel Toaff (Bar-IIan University) in his book “Pasque di Sangue (Bloody Passover)”.

The Jewish biblical story of ‘Exodus’ has been rejected by Rabbi David Wolpe in Los Angeles (reported by L.A. Times, 2001): “The truth is that virtually every modern archaeologist who has investigated the story of the Exodus, with very few exceptions, agrees that the way Bible describes the Exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at all.”

Hizbullah, based on Shia Islam’s discipline and martyrdom, was established in the 1980s NOT to fight the Christian domination of Lebanon as result of French colonization – but to fight the Jewish occupation of South Lebanon and Israeli Christian collaborators Phalangists.

When the Jewish army withdrew in 2000 – Hizbullah could have executed the Phalangist Christian leaders for treason against Lebanon – but it forgave them. Hizbullah never challenged the unfairness of the Saudi-brokered 1989 Taef Agreement, which awarded less parliament seats to Muslim majority (60%) and the Christian minority (40%). Nor it came to the help of Palestinian refugees’s (350,000) equal citizen rights living in Lebanon for decades – against Christian opposition.

Hizbullah, as a ‘Lebanese National Resistance’, judges other political groups and religious communities on the basis of their ‘patriotism’. It doesn’t like people and groups who project the interests of the US, France, Israel or Saudi Arabia.

(SALEM, Ore.) – Furkan Doğan shot the Israeli military first, then they shot back, and ultimately executed him on the deck of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla‘Mavi Marmara’ last May. The problem, is that Furkan was only using a video camera.

The Israeli commandos who “bravely” stormed this humanitarian aid vessel with unarmed peace activists, used 9mm pistols and sub machine guns to shoot back. The end result was a tragedy and not just for the Turks, but also for the Yanks.

As Ralph G. Loeffler in Kayseri, Turkey wrote two days ago in his article, Remembering Furkan Doğan, “Furkan was filming the Israeli assault when an Israeli commando fired his first shot pointblank hitting Furkan squarely in the face. Four more shots were fired into Furkan leaving him dead and unrecognizable.”

Ken O’Keefe, who is a former U.S. Marine and a Salem-News.com writer, personally disarmed two of the three Israeli commandos who raided their ship at 3:40 a.m. It is not clear if the soldiers Ken subdued and captured were the specific individuals who killed Furkan and eight others, shooting and injuring dozens of other unarmed activists at the same time; but it is just as likely they were.

“When we got them below these brave Israeli commandos turned into a bunch of scared little children. They thought we were going to do the same thing to them that they did to us,” O’Keefe said.But as his captain and shipmates had said from the start to international media, they were not going to Gaza with a goal of hurting or killing anyone. Their goal was to break the blockade, or ‘siege’ that Israel maintains around Gaza, choking its 1.5 million residents off from aid and help. They were enroute to deliver supplies that ranged from medicine and food, to wheelchairs and construction supplies.These items are badly needed in Gaza because of Israel’s frequent attacks on this historic place; the last stronghold of Palestinian resistance to Israeli oppression and occupation.

When the soldiers stormed the Mavi Marmara, they opened fire with deadly rounds from boats that chased the ship. As the helicopters hovered overhead depositing Israeli Defence Force soldiers, snipers secure in the aircraft indiscriminately killed activists with a scope. It was a real, profound act of cowardice. Like Ken, I am a former U.S. Marine. Honorable military groups do not attack unarmed civilians, at least by accepted policy, but Israel does.

According to the United Nations General Assembly Human Rights Council’s Report of the international fact-finding mission to investigate violations of international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law, resulting from the Israeli attacks on the flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian assistance*

Gareth Porter reports on The Real news NetworkYouTube - Veterans Today -Deaths occurring on the top deck (roof) Furkan Dogan , a 19-year-old with dual Turkish and United States citizenship, was on the central area of the top deck filming with a small video camera when he was first hit with live fire. It appears that he was lying on the deck in a conscious, or semi-conscious, state for some time. In total Furkan received five bullet wounds, to the face, head, back thorax, left leg and foot. All of the entry wounds were on the back of his body, except for the face wound which entered to the right of his nose. According to forensic analysis, tattooing around the wound in his face indicates that the shot was delivered at point blank range. Furthermore, the trajectory of the wound, from bottom to top, together with a vital abrasion to the left shoulder that could be consistent with the bullet exit point, is compatible with the shot being received while he was lying on the ground on his back. The other wounds were not the result of firing in contact, near contact or close range, but it is not otherwise possible to determine the exact firing range. The wounds to the leg and foot were most likely received in a standing position. -UN Report

As Ralph G. Loeffler shares in his report, Furkan Doğan is as American as one can be. He was born in the Albany-Troy area of New York, but had gone back to live in his family’s hometown of Kayseri, Turkey.

Loeffler wrote: “His family knew the names of the eight Turkish nationals who had been killed on the Mavi Marmara but one casualty had not been immediately identified. In their normal pattern of lies and misinformation the Israelis had not identified Furkan because he was an American. They waited until the initial impact of their murderous attack on innocent, defenseless humanitarians subsided a bit before confirming the ninth victim was Furkan.”

Sadly,, when Furkan’s father, Ahmet Doğan, an accounting professor, went to meet the Mavi Marmara’s survivors and casualties- he did not yet know that his son had been murdered. The Israeli government directed him to the morgue to identify his son’s disfigured remains. I agree wholeheartedly with Loeffler’s sentiment. “Surely such a day defies description.”

Reaction worldwide to this murder of nine innocent people was sharp; the incident brought harsh criticism of Israel from the offset. But the more recent announcement from the UN Human Rights Commission, cited above, that Israel specifically violated international law and executed several of the activists, is increasing pressure on the Jewish state and its seemingly endless list of over the top military reactions toward the Palestinian people.

Ralph Loeffler says one immediate reaction to the Mavi Marmara massacre, was Viva Palestina’s announcement of plans for another humanitarian aid mission to Gaza. Viva Palestina, a UK-based charity founded by former Member of British Parliament George Galloway, launched a land aid convoy in March 2009 shortly after the Israeli attack on Gaza known as “Operation Cast Lead” ended

On 18 September 2010, the Viva Palestina 5 Convoy was launched. Loeffler says it arrived in Kayseri late on 29 September. They spent the night on a mountain overlooking the town.

“We had come to Kaseyri for the sole purpose of visiting Furkan’s gravesite and extending our condolences to his family. The following morning we were told that our convoy would be passing by the high school from which Furkan had graduated and that students from the school would be waiting for us. As we began our slow journey down the twisting mountain road the convoy took on the air of a funeral procession. Suddenly, there they were.

The students lined both sides of the road standing for who knows how long. Each one sadly, silently, proudly held up Furkan’s picture as the convoy rolled by.”

He explains how beautiful, moving words were spoken at the gravesite. The group then met with Furkan’s family at the recently built community center named in Furkan’s honor.

“The grandfather and uncle bore their grief perhaps with the acceptance of mortality that comes with age. But the older brother’s grief was palpable. Deep, dark lines were etched under his eyes and he seemed detached from his surroundings. The despair evident on his face made a statement greater than words could ever do.”

Such is the handiwork and motivation of the Israeli government. There was a time when they were the culture under threat. Today they have fully turned the tables. Ralph G. Loeffler says any country should be proud to have a promising young man such as Furkan as one of its own.

“Intelligent and mature beyond his years Furkan had already dedicated his life to the struggle for Palestinian justice. Such a course bears no import with the US Congress, which allows for the US bankrolling of the occupation. And the Israeli thug who gunned down Furkan is no more responsible for murdering him than Furkan’s own country which paid for the bullets.”

Today is Furkan’s birthday; he isn’t here to celebrate it, but it is nonetheless. I greatly appreciate this poem written by Funda Cetin.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FURKAN!! – Funda CetinToday in 1991 a baby was born in Troy, New York.
With his blonde hair, lovely, pure face and nice black eyes, he was a very cute baby.
He was the youngest member of Dogan family and was the source of happiness and joy.
They called him ‘Furkan’ meaning ‘distinguishing reality from superstition’.
As he was born there, he was an US citizen.
He was two when his family had gone back to live in their hometown of Kayseri, Turkey.
Furkan completed his education in Kayseri.
He was a very smart and hardworking student.
He was loved and respected by all his friends…
He had always a smile on his lovely face. He would care his clothing and tidiness.He was a very generous teen.
He would love participating in charity organizations.
Last time, he and other voluteer student in his school gathered considerable amount of money for Gaza.
He would spend his pocket money for charity organizations.
Furkan had a passion… to be a doctor.
As he loved helping people, he wanted to be ‘cure’ for sufferers.In the exams he got a successful level.
His dream of becoming a doctor would become true…
But… but, there were some ‘killers’ in the Mediterranean Waters on May 31.
They killed ‘dreams, hopes of an idealistic young man’ – ruthlessly.By Funda Cetin

Ralph G. Loeffler is an activist with the International Action Center in New York City.

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com’s Executive News Editor. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

Police cordoned off activists and outnumbered them three to one. (Tom Wills)

As Israeli warplanes flew over Gaza on 13 October, activists converged on Brighton, United Kingdom for the annual mass action against the local EDO/ITT factory that produces components used in weapons by the Israeli Air Force, amongst others, to devastating effect.

Faces clad, dozens of protesters attempted to break through police lines. Outnumbered by police three to one, the activists were chased down, detained and arrested. The surreal background symphony continued: photographers' flashes, stubborn traffic attempting to worm its way through police lines, the chants of "Free Palestine!" and the unmistakable sound of a police chopper circling overhead.

The campaign against EDO/ITT is now in its sixth year and this was the fifth convergence of its kind. The British police's heavy-handed crackdown on the action should perhaps be no surprise given the success of past Smash EDO convergences and the ongoing weekly protests against the factory. The repression began in the early hours of the morning as dozens of activists sleeping in an accommodation center in Stanmer Park, located twenty minutes from the planned protest site, awoke to find the building surrounded by 27 riot police vans. Those trapped inside were only permitted to leave inside a police cordon -- a mobile means of detention. Protesters who were able to reach the planned convergence space, a park close to the EDO/ITT factory, quickly met with an overwhelming force of riot police on foot and horseback.

Undeterred, protesters, numbering around 300, splintered off into smaller groups as the day quickly developed into an elaborate, and wholly unequal game of pursuit between activists and police. Sights such as a group of protesters, pursued by police, taking off into the woods carrying a large papier-mache airplane and inflatable hammers underlined the tragicomic nature of the demonstration. Two Israeli activists taking part in the action held an impromptu talk about the realities of day-to-day life for Palestinians under Israeli occupation to those held captive alongside them in a police cordon.

The day finally drew to a close late that afternoon with 53 arrests. Despite the overwhelming police presence at the protest site, the activists responded with spontaneous actions. This included successful rallies outside both Barclays Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland (where protesters even glued themselves to the building), both known investors in the ITT corporation. Spirits were mixed as events wound down; factory production had been shut down for the day, but police repression saw the streets controlled and hopes of a successful siege of the factory were dashed. In spite of the massive police presence, the protest's message resonated throughout the streets of Brighton: no war machine, not in my backyard.

Brighton's long, loud and colorful history of activism against the war machine and those who profit from it continues to manifest itself in a slew of campaigns. New projects include a successful community guerrilla gardening takeover of the urban space earmarked for the opening of a supermarket giant Tesco store -- known for stocking Israeli products produced in settlements in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights. Activists have also initiated a "No Borders" campaign against the establishment of a new incinerator in the area slated to be run by the French multinational Veolia, which has been involved in the illegal Jerusalem light rail project. Established in 2006, the Brighton Jordan Valley Solidarity group continues to see many local activists travel to the Palestinian town of Tubas in the occupied West Bank each year as part of a strong ongoing solidarity campaign and unofficial partnering of the two cities.

The Smash EDO campaign embodies the growth of the new anti-militarist movement in the UK in recent years that hits back against the government's thinly-veiled complicity with, and profiteering from, illegal occupations in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. Activists with the campaign also say its a response to the mainstream anti-war movement's politicking and well-behaved protest marches. The Smash EDO campaign relates to the successful campaign in the UK and Ireland against Raytheon, which culminated in the 2006 destruction of the American defense contractor's offices in Derry, Northern Ireland during Israel's 2006 invasion of Lebanon.

The underlying momentum of the movement is founded in the belief that war crimes can and must be stopped, but not through the petitioning of arms traders or political hand-wringing. Speaking about EDO/ITT, Smash EDO spokeswoman Chloe Marsh says that "since the campaign started they [EDO/ITT] have closed down around 25 percent of the business from their main site plus sold off one other location which was also targeted by direct action activists. They might just be a small part of the war machine, but they are one that exists in our local community, making them a 'doable' target. Every bomb that is dropped, every bullet that is fired in the name of this war of terror has to be made somewhere -- and wherever that is it can be resisted."

"We will be there until they're not," says Marsh. "In other words, the ultimate goal is the factory's closure." Considering the odds that the campaign continues to stack against the weapons manufacturer, this not only seems a tangible victory, but highlights the universal wisdom in "think globally, act locally."

Bridget Chappell is an Australian activist and writer who worked with the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine from August 2009 through May 2010.

TWO OUT OF THREE AUSTRALIANS: “9/11 A GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY”

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor

“67% of Australians cite 9/11 government conspiracy in poll. How can a government get so out of touch with reality, so “snookered” by American pressure over the 9/11 coverup that it would wake up one morning looking totally idiotic to its own people?”

When Trades Hall council president and staunch conservative, Kevin Bracken, on the ABC show “Talk Back” publicly aired his views on American government complicity in the 9/11 attacks, host Jon Faine attacked him violently on air, making every attempt to humiliate and silence Bracken. Bracken, known for taking tough stances during his tenure as head of Australia’s Maritime Union, didn’t back down.
Bracken’s memorable response to ABC’s Jon Faine:

“Unfortunately cowards like you have set the political agenda in this country for too long. I won’t be cowering down to bullies like yourself.”

Bracken, an outspoken Australian known for “telling it like it is” and “letting the chips fall where they may” made his position official in 2006, when he stated the following:

“If they want to stop terrorism they’ve got to look at who was really behind 9/11….It couldn’t have happened unless there was participation from key elements of the American military and government and security services. I am not saying the whole lot were involved. But I believe the official story for September 11 doesn’t stack up.”

Bracken could have been talking about Great Britain or the United States. It took an Australian to put his reputation and career on the line, trusting in the judgement of the Australian people. The Herald Sun took up the challenge and, for the first time, actually polled public opinion on 9/11, clearly asking whether they believed Bracken, that 9/11 was not a terrorist attack but a government conspiracy or the media pundits and members of the political opposition.
Seeing an opening, liberal opposition leaders attacked Bracken like a pack of wild dogs. Victorian MP Josh Freydenburg advocating expelling Braken from Parliament while Julia Gillard of the Federal Opposition called the Braken’s remarks “stupid and wrong’ and threatened retaliation.

BBC "ERROR" OUTRAGES MILLIONS

Shadow Attorney General Robert Clark tried to “spin” Bracken’s 9/11 remarks into an attack on Australia’s armed forces. Perhaps Clark’s remarks were the most shameful and despicable of all.
A day later, with poll results in, Clarke, Freydenburg and Gillard stand humiliated, their threats empty and their rhetoric ringing hollow.

When Kevin Bracken claimed he had the support of 50% of Australians when he said that solid scientific evidence left no other rational explanation that 9/11 wasn’t a terrorist act but a government conspiracy, he was wrong. In a poll by the Herald Sun, 66.9% of Australians supported Bracken’s beliefs as “reasonable,” a surprise to Bracken and a total debunking of informal news estimates that reported “9/11 truthers” to be less than 10% of the population. Minority party members, many closely aligned with the powerful Israeli lobby in Australia, found themselves “out in the cold.”

Braken’s point, that “conventional and accepted science” totally rejects the conclusions of the 9/11 report is, as Bracken points out, the basis for his belief that the American government itself is at the heart of the 9/11 attacks. The Herald Sun poll, made several things clear:

The Australian government is violently opposed to Bracken’s position, now shown to be one held by a majority of Australian citizens

Accepting Bracken’s position is a clear rebuttal of a government “out of touch” with, not only its own citizens, but the “hard science” and evidentiary trail that began when the 9/11 Commission itself, cited criminal acts and proof of a conspiracy as “tainting” their findings

Support of Bracken meant supporting the belief that the United States government, in order to pre-stage a war in the Middle East, a war proven unfounded and illegal, would stage an attack on its own soil

A NEW GROUP OF CONSPIRACY “BUFFS”…PROFESSIONALS

What attracted Bracken to looking at 9/11 as a moral watershed, science vs. dogma. What set 9/11 aside from other challenges to questionable “official versions” of well known events were the groups that opposed the “party line.” Instead of “fringe” elements, “9/11 truth” groups are made up of engineers, scientists, military and intelligence professionals, most at the height of their professions, impeccable credentials and excellent reputations. In fact, few professionals are willing to debate “9/11 truthers” publicly. At a professional level, believing in the government version of 9/11, the “boxcutter and pancaking building” version is considered bordering on idiocy.

Aligned against the professionals supporting “9/11 truth” are a few organizations dependent on government financing or tied directly to political lobbys profiting directly from the geopolitical fallout of 9/11, groups invested in what Bracken refers to as a “disinformation campaign.” Despite continual warnings by President Obama that talk of government conspiracies are abuses of constitutional freedom of speech guarantees, if the internet is any gauge, the “official line” on 9/11 is also in deep trouble in the United States, although no media poll has ever been held.

FOX NEWS: "9/11 REPORT A WHITEWASH"United States.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA IN AMERICA NOW CITES 9/11 COVERUP

Ten days ago, America’s largest and certainly most conservative news network, Fox News, owned by Australian magnate Rupert Murdoch, did something no news organization has done before, it directly challenged the official story on 9/11. Fox host, Judge Napolitano invited Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, author of Operation Dark Heart, a highly controversial book on American intelligence practices, onto his show. When questioned on 9/11, Shaffer informed Napolitano that he gave the 9/11 Commission direct testimony that there was full knowledge of the 9/11 attack as early as 1999, information omitted from the report. Shaffer labeled 9/11 a “government conspiracy” in clear terms based on personal knowledge gained as an American intelligence officer.

Shaffer was followed by CIA “bin Laden” project chief, Michael Scheuer who, not only backed Shaffer’s claim but further reinforced the fact that the 9/11 Commission report was part of a cover-up of a government conspiracy. These American intelligence specialists, with direct knowledge of 9/11, both agreed entirely with what Kevin Bracken had been saying since 2006 and did it on national television in front of an audience of millions.

Knowing this, the responses to Braken’s statements, demonstrating a position now very public in the US, a position not only accepted on national news but backed by top intelligence experts, could easily be characterized by Julia Gillard’s own words, “stupid and wrong” but this time applying to Gillard and those like her.

Friday, 22 October 2010

22/10/2010 “Israel could aid the United States in its attempts to thwart Iran's nuclear program by pushing forward with peace talks with the Palestinian Authority,” Israeli President Shimon Peres said Thursday, adding that Israel couldn’t exist without US.

Speaking at a meeting of worldwide Jewish leaders in occupied Jerusalem as reported by Haaretz, Peres said that while "Israel cannot give America what it gives us, we, in our small way, can help the U.S. by putting an end to the minor conflict with the Palestinians and allowing it to focus on the main threat – Iran."

Peres said that, "for our existence, we need the friendship of the United States of America."

Speaking of how Israel can give back to the US, he said that just "as the US is trying to understand the security needs of Israel, we Israelis ourselves must understand the security needs of the US." He continued, "We cannot give back to the United States what the US is giving us, but in our own small way, we can be of help."

However, in a more critical note, Army Radio also quoted the president as expressing his disapproval of American attempts to establish democracies in Arab states such as Iraq, saying that the question was 'where is the Muslim world heading?'"

"I appreciate [former U.S. president George] Bush's attempt to expose them to democracy, but is that possible?," Peres asked, adding that it was "very difficult to come to a king and tell him to go to elections."

22/10/2010 Arab diplomatic sources in Beirut told As-Safir newspaper that US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman was “nervous and tense”, during his talks in Riyadh with a number of Saudi officials last week.

The sources said Feltman rejected any attempts to prevent the issuance of the indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, stressing to Saudi officials that the “US is committed to the STL and to stability in Lebanon.”

“The contacts between Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the second between them in less than a week, paved the way for the resumption of visits between Riyadh and Tehran at the highest levels,” the sources told As-Safir, not excluding the possibility of a senior Iranian official visit to Saudi Arabia, or sending a Saudi official to Tehran in the coming weeks, after the Iraqi government situation becomes clear.

The senior Arab sources called for waiting for the results of intensive regional consultations, in order to accelerate the formation of the Iraqi coalition government.

But the Americans, according to the sources, seemed “confused” by the shape of Feltman’s visit and the content of the telephone call between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, as well as by a list of questions distributed by the US Embassy on a number of “Lebanese friends” in order to explore Hezbollah’s reaction vis-à-vis the indictment expected to accuse it in the Rafiq Hariri assassination.

In an interview with Al-Hayat newspaper published on Friday, Feltman said that “there is no substitute for the STL.”

“We are in contact with Lebanese officials to defuse the current tension in the country,” Feltman said, adding that “attempts to destabilize Lebanon are not the best way to protect its sovereignty.”

"The absence of justice leads to instability. The choice between instability and the court is not a right choice. It is the choice of Hizbullah and others. They are trying to impose it on the Lebanese," Feltman said. “We hope Lebanon continues to fund the STL, but there are other ways to fund the court [if Lebanon’s share was blocked],” he said.

October 20, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- Israel’s Likudnik Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached into his bag of Zionist tricks and pulled out a brand-new demand that had never surfaced before in the history of the Middle East Peace Process going all the way back to their beginning with the negotiation of the original Camp David Accords conducted under the personal auspices of U.S. President Jimmy Carter in 1978: The Palestinians must recognize Israel as “the Jewish State.” Not surprisingly, the Zionist controlled and funded Obama administration publicly endorsed this latest roadblock to peace that was maliciously constructed by Israel.

Netanyahu deliberately shifted the goal-posts on the Palestinians. It would be as if the United States of America demanded that Iran recognize it as the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) State as a condition for negotiating and then concluding any comprehensive peace settlement with it. Of course such demands are racist and premeditated non-starters to begin with.

Netanyahu’s racist ultimatum would lead to the denationalization of the 1.5 million Palestinians who are already less than third-class citizens of Israel and set the stage for their mass expulsion to the Palestinian Bantustan envisioned by Netanyahu as the “final solution” to Zionism’s “demographic problem” created by the very existence of the Palestinians.

This racist and genocidal demand would also illegally terminate the well-recognized Right of Return for five million Palestinian refugees living around the world as required by U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194(III) of 1948, by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 13(2) (1948), and by general principles of public international law, international humanitarian law, and human rights law.This would doom all prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians forever, and pave the way for the creation of “Greater Israel” dominating the entire former Mandate for Palestine, both of which objectives have been the intention of Netanyahu and Likud all along.

But if Netanyahu is really serious about Israel being recognized internationally as “the Jewish State” then there is a simple manner by which this universal diplomatic status can instantly be achieved unilaterally and without the consent of the Palestinians. Under basic principles of international law, every state is free to change its own name if it so desires: e.g., from Congo to Zaire then back to Congo. Therefore Israel is free to change its name to Jewistan -- the State of the Jews.

Thereafter every state in the world that has diplomatic relations and treaty relations with Israel will henceforth necessarily have to recognize it as Jewistan -- the State of Jews -- and deal with it as such by that name on a daily basis. The name of Jewistan would automatically replace the name of Israel in the United Nations System, at all other concerned international organizations, and on all bilateral and multilateral treaties to which Israel is currently a contracting party. Indeed, in the aftermath of its serial genocidal atrocities perpetrated against the Palestinians and the Lebanese, Israel has quite understandably been seeking to “re-brand” itself. Jewistan is Israel’s perfect new moniker.

In fact, Israel has never been anything but a Bantustan for Jews setup in the Middle East by the White racist and genocidal Western colonial imperial powers in order to serve as their racist attack dog and genocidal enforcer against the Arab and Muslim world. From the very moment of Western imperialism’s genocidal conception of Israel in 1947-1948,Israel has historically always functioned as Jewistan – the world’s Bantustan for the Jews. So Israel might as well finally change its name today to Jewistan, own up to its racist birthright, and make it official for the rest of the world to acknowledge. Of course, all the Black Bantustans in racist criminal apartheid South Africa were eventually dismantled and no longer exist. The same will eventually happen to the racist criminal apartheid Jewish Bantustan in the Middle East no matter what name they call themselves. Actually, Jewistan/Israel is more closely analogous to the genocidal Yugoslavia that collapsed as a State, lost its U.N. membership, and no longer exists as a State for that precise reason.

In either event, when this Israeli Bantustan for Jews predictably collapses as a State, all the Palestinian refugees living in their Diaspora around the world will be able to return to their homes as guaranteed by Resolution 194. Such is the ultimate solution for securing the Palestinian Right of Return under International Law.

In the meantime, the Palestinians should sign nothing with Jewistan/Israel and let this Bantustan for Jews collapse of its own racist and genocidal weight. Good riddance!

FRANCIS A. BOYLE is a leading American expert in international law. He was responsible for drafting the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, the American implementing legislation for the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention.He served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International (1988-1992), and represented Bosnia-Herzegovina at the World Court. He served as legal adviser to the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East peace negotiations from 1991 to 1993. In 2007, he delivered the Bertrand Russell Peace Lectures. Previous Russell Lecturers have included E.P. Thompson, Elena Bonner, Edward Said, Ramsey Clark, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Joseph Rotblat, Johan Galtung, and Noam Chomsky.Professor Boyle teaches international law at the University of Illinois, Champaign and is author of, inter alia, The Future of International Law and American Foreign Policy, Foundations of World Order, The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence, Palestine, Palestinians and International Law, Destroying World Order, Biowarfare & Terrorism. And Tackling America’s Toughest Questions.He holds a Doctor of Law Magna Cum Laude as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science, both from Harvard University.River toSeaUprooted Palestinian

London Jazz Festival

Hello EverybodyYou do not want to miss this one. This is our Orient House Ensemble mini jazz festival.We will celebrate ten years of the Orient House Ensemble, with a special three set performance. featuring special guests Asaf Sirkis, Guillermo Rozenthuler, Tali Atzmon, Romanno Viazaani and the Sigamos Quartet. Materials from our early albums, will be followed by our acclaimed In Loving Memory of America tribute to Charlie Parker. We will also play some materials from our new collaboration album with Robert Wyatt and Ros StephenFor The Ghost Within. We will conclude with new music from the band’s new release The Tide Has Changed.

How would you feel about a Radio show specialising in Aryan classical music? How would you feel about a radio show that features mainly, or only Aryan composers and performers?

I guess that I know the answer: you would feel disturbed, and you may even want to protest.

However, Mike Gerber, a writer for the ‘Jewish Socialist Magazine’ and a member of the ‘Jewish Socialist Group’ has a very similar agenda -- he is about to launch a ‘Jews only’ jazz radio show.

Here is an extract from his press release, which he circulated this morning:

“I'm Mike Gerber, author of the book “Jazz Jews”, as a result of which I've been asked to host a regular Jazz Jews show on the internet station UK Jazz Radio.…… My Jazz Jews show will feature: Jewish/jazz fusions of every kind; rootsy Jewish music such as klezmer; Israeli jazz; and there will also be a focus on Jewish Great American Songbook composers. I will play tracks by some of the many Jewish musicians who have contributed to jazz more generally...”

I assume that we wouldn’t accept an Aryan classical music radio show, yet a ‘Jewish Jazz show’ must be somehow kosher. At least kosher enough for http://www.jazzradio.com/ to host it.

I met Mike Gerber ten years ago. He came to my house to interview me about Jews and Jazz. He sat with me for many hours, desperately trying to squeeze out of me an insight into the inherent bond between Jazz and Jews. I could hardly help him. I am not a musicologist. Furthermore, I cannot hear any particular Jewish musical influence in Jazz. Though it is true that more than a few Jazz master artists and iconic composers were Jewish by ethnicity ( and this fact in itself deserves a study ), but jazz, as an art form, is far from being Judeo-centric or Jewish.

The greatness of jazz music is grounded on its capacity to bring together people of all colours and ethnicities. Jazz made itself into a cosmopolitan language and a symbol of freedom because of its diversity of sounds, rhythms and cultures. And with all due respect to Michael Gerber and his obsession with Jewish cultural importance, I cannot hear the Jew in Gershwin or in Michael Brecker. I could instead hear Africa, Cuba, Blues, Baroque, NYC, Paris. In fact I can hear everything but the Jewish Ghetto.

When we met, I suggested to Gerber that for many Jewish artists, Jazz is actually an escape route from the ghetto, from the chicken soup, gefilte fish, Zionism and other symbols of chosen-ness. At the time, I also discussed this issue with drummer star Asaf Sirkis, song writer Chaz Jankel and legendary New York saxophonist Bob Berg and they obviously agreed with me. I myself can testify that twelve bars into my new path as a young Jazz enthusiast, I managed to forget Zionism, Israel and the IDF. I didn’t want to die on the Zionist altar : instead I dreamed to swing in Paris, or bop in NYC. For many of us, Israelis and Jewish musicians, Jazz was a window of opportunity. It was a true means towards liberation.

Gerber didn’t like my idea that much. It could easily dismantle his Jewish project. Gerber spent seven years writing a gigantic text about Jews and Jazz, which is, in my opinion, one of the most disturbing books in the history of Jazz literature. As Gerber’s website suggests, the book “explores the role of Jews in breaking the colour bar in American jazz, and in using jazz as an instrument against apartheid and against Soviet repression”.

But here is a clear problem: though it is indeed very important for Gerber to present Jewish jazz as a ‘progressive affair’ at the heart of the anti Apartheid movement -- it is far from being clear why Jewish Jazz musicians are far from being actively involved in the anti Zionist movement.

If Jewish Jazz musicians are somehow wonderfully progressive -- how is it that we hardly see any Jewish Jazz collective movement denouncing Zionism or Israel?

Gerber is obviously totally foreign to Jazz and its spirit. He clearly fails to realize that playing music is the ultimate form of being amongst others. When you play music, issues to do with race, identity, politics and cultural barriers are put aside. Being there and producing beauty with others is in itself the strongest possible statement. Jazz musicians do not have to say much, for the music carries the strongest message. In our Jazza festival last week we had at least four Jewish artists. They operated as ordinary human beings. They didn’t carry any flags or banners. They didn’t ask for any special treatment.

Michael Gerber, however, didn’t come to our Jazza concert (though he somehow always calls me in advance to ask for a ‘free press pass’ for Ronnie Scott’s when I play there). Jewish Socialist Groups did not support Jazza either, nor did any other Jewish organization. But, let me tell you, many Jews did. They joined us as ordinary human beings. Unlike Mike Gerber and his Jewish Socialists they obviously assimilated into humanity.

Zelig For Breakfast

Three weeks ago Gerber asked me to send him some music for his 'Jews only' radio show. I obviously refused. I suggested to him that when he decides to feature and promote Gentiles’ music, he should contact me again and I will consider. This morning after reading Gerber’s press release, I wrote back to him in sarcasm -- I suggested that my (imaginary) German Friend “Klaus Hofmann wants to host an Aryan Jazz programme.” I thought that it would be nice to have the two racist Radio programmes next to each other.

Gerber was hurt. He answered immediately:

“A key part of my show is Jewish jazz, which also includes a lot of Israeli jazz.” He went on to say, “If it's OK to have a Latin jazz programme, it's OK to have a show that's largely about the Jewish jazz sub-genre.”

Gerber’s answer took me by surprise. Though Gerber is a member of the Jewish Socialist Group, and in spite of the fact that Jewish Socialists claim also to be anti Zionists who support cultural boycott of Israel, Gerber, all of a sudden, decided to endorse the Jewish state as a Jewish cultural Mecca. He even became an active mouthpiece for Israeli art (instead of boycotting it). When pushed into a corner the Jewish Socialist somehow changed his spots. He even managed to endorse Zionist culture.

I can accept that Israel is indeed a well of very many incredible Jazz talents. However, one question is still left open -- is there such a thing as Jewish Jazz?

Gerber is either misleading, or may even be misled by himself. There is a big difference between Latin Jazz and Jewish Jazz : Latin Jazz is a clear musical genre that is intrinsically associated with a piece of geography. Musicians around the world can easily define Latin Jazz in musical terms. Anyone can join a Latin Jazz combo once achieving a reasonable command of the Latin musical language. Jewish Jazz, on the contrary, is not an art form, and it is not a musical genre. There is no such thing, outside of Gerber’s universe. I guess that in order to make it into Gerber’s book, all you need is a Jewish mother. This is also exactly what you need in order to make Aliya to Israel and dwell on Palestinian land.

As much as I am happy with Israel exposing its true nature, I am very happy with Mike Gerber pushing his agenda. It was Mike who already ten years ago opened my eyes to this bizarre Jewish collective hubris. It was Mike Gerber who inspired me afew years ago to invent the satirical character Artie Fishel, the American musician who is totally convinced that Jazz is neither American or African, but entirely Jewish.

Like Gerber, Fishel wants to bring Jazz to where it belongs, namely The Promised Band.

As tragic as it may be, Jewish politics is always a form of Zionism

You can listen to Artie Fishel and his Promised Band while thinking about Mike Gerber and his kosher socialism

GAZA, (PIC)-- Mohammed Sawalha, the deputy-head of the international committee for breaking the siege on Gaza, said on Thursday that the lifeline 5 convoy came to Gaza to deliver clear and sound message to the world that the blockade must end immediately.

In an interview with the PIC, Sawalha said that the free people of the world support the lifting of the oppressive siege and back the Palestinian struggle for independence and freedom.

"As we arrive in Gaza we forget all the pain [of an arduous journey]. We will always be ready to come to Gaza because Gaza leads the international struggle for freedom and deliverance from [the control of] Zionism. Victory and dismantlement of the racist state are near," Sawalha said.

He said that activists participating in the aid convoy were determined and convinced that they will enter the Gaza Strip, and they kept praying for that, adding that they all enjoyed very high morale despite the hurdles on the way of the convoy.

He expressed disappointment at the Egyptian decision to ban former British MP George Galloway and some other activists from entering Egypt on their way to the Gaza Strip and asked: "Why were those people barred from entering the Gaza Strip? They only came to support the weak and besieged [people of Gaza]".

He called on the international community to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip and to open all border crossings for the residents of the Strip.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ahmad Yusuf, the undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry in Gaza, said that his government was preparing for an official reception in Rafah on Friday, but they were taken by surprise when the Egyptian authorities allowed the activists to enter on Thursday.

He thanked Egypt for facilitating entry of the convoy, adding that this move will hopefully encourage other aid conveys to travel the same route.

He also thanked all those who participated the convoy, especially, George Galloway and said that even though George was not present, he is ever present in the hearts and minds of the people of Gaza

GAZA, (PIC)-- Members of the lifeline 5 convoy have arrived Thursday to the besieged Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing point after the Egyptian authorities allowed them entry following marathon negotiations full of Egyptian preconditions.

Local Palestinian sources said that a couple of days is needed for the ship carrying the humanitarian assistance anchoring in the Egyptian Al-Areesh port to unload the shipment before sending it to the besieged Strip through the Rafah crossing point.

An atmosphere of Jubilation was engulfing the activists once they stepped into the occupied Palestine as many of them fell in prostration to Allah for enabling them achieve their mission.

"We are with you oh people of Gaza and Allah willing you will win and emerge victorious over your enemies", chanted the activists as they embrace Palestinian officials receiving them at the borders.

"Thanks to Allah that we arrived to Palestine and the land of Gaza after an exhausting five weeks of suffering, and we indeed enjoy very high morale now in Gaza that deserve more than what we are doing for it", said one of the activist as he spoke to the PIC correspondent.

Well-informed sources confirmed that Qatar, which funded the transportation by air of the convoy's activists mediated with the Egyptian authorities to allow the activists and the ship into AL-Areesh.

Egypt had imposed a number of preconditions on the activists and the ship to allow them into Gaza through Egypt, causing delay to the ship's departure from the Syrian port as scheduled, in addition to forcing the activists to travel by air to Egypt instead of accompanying the ship via sea.

Qatar, according to the sources, joined efforts with Syria to convince Egypt not to block the aid convoy. Egypt conceded at last to the two Arab countries mediation.

The ship carries around 140 truck and cars loaded with humanitarian assistance with the aim to alleviate the suffering of the 1.6 million Palestinians blockaded in the Strip for the fifth year now.

Organizers of the convoy asserted that they want to deliver a message to the "civilized" world that the siege on Gaza must end immediately, and the will of the Palestinian people must be respected.

Birawi: Lifeline carries 5 million dollars worth of aid

[ 22/10/2010 - 11:39 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Spokesman for Lifeline 5 aid convoy to the Gaza Strip, Zaher Birawi, said on Thursday that the convoy carries with it 5 million US dollars worth of aid for the besieged people of Gaza, including medical, humanitarian and educational aid.

In a statement to PIC Birawi said that the arrival of Lifeline activists into Gaza as an indicator that the Egyptian authorities have rectified its earlier fault with regard to the aid convoy.

He added that the activists will remain in the Gaza Strip for three days and will be leaving on Sunday morning and that they will be making field visits to areas destroyed by the Israelis during the war on Gaza and meeting some of the affected families.

Birawi said that the Egyptian authorities allowed 342 activists from 30 different coutries, 12 of them Arab countries, into the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian authorities however barred 17 activists, including the leader of the convoy George Galloway, from entering Egypt on their way to the Gaza Strip.